Vacuum-cleaner.



R. H. SMITH. Y

VACUUM CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED IAN.9, 1912.

Imwm. PaIenIeII may I8, 1915.

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WITNESSES V `INVENTOH aww/@am l BY n Xa v ATTORNEYS R. R. SIVHTH.

VACUUM CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED IAN.9. 1'912.

IIQMQIQMD Patented May 18, 1915.

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WITNESSES Q ATTORNEYS MM' W12-22 R. R. SMITH. l

VACUUM CLEANER. l APPLICATION FILED IAN. 9, I9I2.

1]. ZQO Patente May 18, 1915.

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ATTORNEYS R. R. SMITH.

VACUUM CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.9, 19l 2.

LLQSQQQD Patented May 18, 1915.-

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VAUUUT-CLEANEE..

` @pacification of Eettnrlatent.' Ptmgd Mm? ggg y E911 5 ,Be-it hewn that 3l, Renner R. Smm, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of Philadelphia, btate of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful VuUm-Cleaner, of which the followin is a s'pecication. I

, y invention consists of an lmproved vacuum cleanerin which the suction device is operated by ypropelling the cleaner over the surface to be cleaned.

It further consists of improved means for applying ythe power from propelling the cleaner to the suction device.

It further consists of' improved construction of. the suctionv device.

ltfurther consists of improved means for connecting the suction-nozzle to the vacuum chamber.

lt further consists of improved construction of dust-bagsupport. y

It further consists of other' novel features of construction, all as will be hereinafter fully set forth..`

rllhe annexed drawings and the following description set forth in detail one mechanical form embodying the invention, such detail construction being but one of various mechanical forms lin which the principle ot the invention may be used.

lln said annexed drawings-'Figure-l represents a perspective view of my improved vacuum cleaner.V Fig. 2 represents a longitudinal vertical section of the cleaner. Fig. 3 represents a longitudinal horizontal section of the cleaner. Fig. 4 represents a transverse section of the cleaner through the rear portion of the vacuum chamber and looking rearward. Fig. 5 represents an axial section on an enlarged scale, of one of the pistons. Fig. 6 represents an enlarged sectional detail view of a portion of the forward end of the vacuum chamber. Fig. 7 represents an enlarged face view of the cap for the vacuum chamber. Fig. 8 represents a diametrical section of such cap. Fig. 9

represents a rear view of the nozzle-structure. Fig. 10 represents a sectional detall view of the handle-socket. Fig. 11 represents a detail view of one of the intake valves for the pump-cylinder.

Similar numerals of reference/indicate corresponding parts in the figures.

Referring to the drawings, the numeralfl indicates a casing of sheet-metal, substan- I nppuaaoa ala aaauaryaieia. serialnaevaaoe.

tially rectangular in longitudinaland cross sectlon and having its upper side-edges rounded'v and its bottom open. An arched reinforcing strip or yoke, 2, is transversely secured 1n said casing near its rear end, and plates, 3, stamped from sheet-metal to form annular ball-races, 4:, are secured to this arched yoke. A crank-shaft, 5, has'cupped annular ball-races, 6, secured upon its ends to bear upon anti-friction balls, 7, conned between the ball-races. Two wheels, 1l, are secured, one at each end ot the shaft, and each of said wheels is formed from dlshed sheet-metal disks, l2, having their edges stamped or drawn to form inwardlyprojecting Hanges, 13, which form the rim of the wheel but do not completely meet and form a circumferential slot or space. rlhe dished centers, 14:, of the disks are secured together and to a circular, amfal portion, 15,

.oi one cheek of each crank, 16, by means o rivets or bolts, i7. rlires, 13, of rubber or similar material, lit upon the peripherally slottedwheel-rims and are held against lateral displacement by the yielding rubber enteringthe slot. Split bushings, .31.9, oi indurated ber or similar material t upon the pins, 20, of the cranks, and pitmen, 2l, have heads, 22, formed with' semicircular portions, 23, en'gaging'the bushings, and open sides having projecting ears, 24E, through which cotter-pins, 25, pass to confine the bushings in the heads.

Y A forwardly tapering vacuum chamber, 26, of sheet-metal, which constitutes the dust-separator chamber, is secured 'by screwbolts,'2.7, and thumb-nuts, 28, to thev main casing, said bolts passing through a forward wall, 29, of' the casing and a rear wall, 30, of the vacuum chamber, and two cup-shaped seamless cylinders, 31, preferably drawn or stamped from sheet-metal are secured with their integral heads to the rear wall of the vacuum chamber and project, when the vacuum chamber and casing are assembled, through openings, 32, in the forward wall of the casing. The rear wall of the vacuum chamber has openings, 33, which register with openings, 34, in the heads of the cylinders. Valves, 35, of leather, rubber or similar material, and consisting each of a circular central portion, 36, and ears, 37, slidnguponheaded posts, 38, projecting rearward from the heads of the cylinders, play over the tlat seats around ports or openings in said heads to form inwardly or rearwardly opening valves.

v Pistons, 39, are drawn or stam d from sheet-metal into seamless cylindrical cupshape each having its closed integral end, 40, of less diameter than the body of the piston to forma shoulder. A cup-packing, 41, of indurated fiber or similar material 1s placed upon the closed head of the piston, and an annular yielding gasket, 42, bears against said packlng, having an annular rib, 43, formed in a` disk, 44, bearing against it., A bolt, 45, having a nut, 46, upon it, secures said parts together, passing through central openings in thepiston-head, nacking and disk, and said bolt is prevente from turning by an abutment, 102, such as a drop of solder, bearing against its head, which 1s formed with two ears, 47, between which the forward end of the piston-rod is pivotally secured, preferably upon a Cotter-pin, 48. The piston-head, cup-packing and disk may be further secured and clamped together by one or Vmore screw-bolts, 49. The pistonhead', cup-packing and disk have registering openings, 50, and a flexible, inwardl -openmg a -valve, .51, is secured upon t e rear face o the piston-head to cover the valveopening thus formed.

An annular seat-frame is formed on the forward end of the tapering vacuum chamber by a ring formed with a flange, 52, se-

- cured to the end of the vacuum chamber, an

annular rounded seat, 53, and an inwardly projecting flange, 54. 'Screw-bolts, 55, are secured in the outer end of the vacuum chamber and in the rearwardly projecting flange, 52, and said boltsprefera ly are so relatively arranged that the bolts at the upper side of the vacuum chamber project at a distance from each other different from those at the under side, for the purpose to be later lreferred to. A cap, 56, lits with a iiange, 57 ,over the seat-frame of the hood, and is formed with an annular recess, 58, into .which fits an annular gasket, 59, which bears against the annular seat of the frame when secured over the same. The flange of thisy cap is formed with bulges, 60, having open-ended slots, 61, terminating in round andbevel-edged openings, 62, which slots and openings register with the bolts upon the seat-frame, so that the cap may be fitted upon said frame by sliding the slots vupon the bolts until the latter project through the openings. Tapered thumb-nuts, 63, fit upon the radiating bolts and, when screwed inward upon the -bolts and bearin with their tapering sides within the openmgs in dust-bag, 64, of material permeable to airl but impermeable to dust, has a ring, 65, at its mouth, which ringrests upon the annuframe 4 and is lar, inwardlyagainst the same by the annular gasket.

A nozzle, 66, and acluot, 68, similar to nozzles usually employed in vacuum cleaners, has a circular head, 69, from the fiat rear face. of which projects a nipple, 70, to project centrally through a circular opening, 71, in the cap. Said nip le hastwo diametrically projecting lugs, 2, and the opening the cap :has two radial lslots,.7 3, into which the lugs may be inserted to engage under the rim of the opening when the nozzle and head is rotated one-quarter turn. The cap is `formed with an annular rib, 74, and a gasket, 75,

having a narrow lslo`t,6.'l,V

is interposed between said rib d the flat cap are deiiected between -the radial slots to -form cam-surfaces, 76, beneath which the lugs bear. The circular head of the nozzlestructure has a radially projecting hook, 77,

which engages a screw-bolt, 78, upon the cap, andmay be clamped in such engaged position by a tapering knurled nut, 79, by means ofl which thenozzle will be held in true voperative position. t v

A wire-frame, 80, is secured upon the front-face of the rear wall .of the vacuum chamber and has eyes, 81, formed at its ends, which fit lupon two of-the upper-screw-bolts securing the vacuum chamber to the main casing, and an eye, 82, formed upon its transverse bar, fitted upon the lower screwbolt,all eyes being held in place upon said bolts by washers, 83, upon the bolts and by the nuts upon the same. Loops, 84, are formed upon the side-bars of the frame and extend across `and outward from the intake valve-openings to form ards preventing the dust-bag from being rawn into the latter by the suction of the pump-cylinder.

A bail, 85, of strap-metal, is pivoted near its ends upon pins, 86, extending from circular plates, 87, secured upon the sides of the main casing, and said plates have stops, 88, against which said bail may rest when tilted rearward, and radial and tapering lugs, 89, which may engage correspondingly shaped grooves, 90, in the `bail when the latter is raised in a vertical position. The middle of the bail is formed with` a loop, 91, and a socket, 92, for the handle, 93, is clamped uponthe straight portion of said loop. Said socket consists of two portions, 94, formed from pressed or stamped sheetmetal and shaped to form two cylindrical halves, 95, of a socket, two tapering arts, 96, two .fiat shank-portions, 97, an two doubly bent clamp-portions, 98, whichembrace the straight portion of the loop. The shank-portions are secured together by a rivet, 99, and a screw-bolt, 100, having a thumb-nut, 101, passes through the sockethalves and through the handle therein, securing said halves together and securing the handle in the socket.

ln practice, the cleaner is propelled over the floor, carpet, rug, or whatever surface is to be cleaned. The yielding tires of the Wheels are preferably roughened to insure turning of the wheels when the cleaner 1s propelled, and the rotary motion of the wheels is conveyed through the cranks and pitmen to the pistons in the suction-cylinders to reciprocate said pistons. As said pistons are reciprocated, they reduce the a1rpressure in the vacuum-chamber, creating suction through the dust-bag and nozzlestructure, so that dust and other particles will be drawn through the nozzle'into the dust-bag which, being permeable to air but impermeable to dust and other solid particles, will collect such dust and particles. The bag will be presented from being drawn in through the valve-ports in the rear wall of the vacuum chamber and in the heads of the cylinders by the Wireframes. When the bag is so full of dust as to prevent the free passage of air through 1t and free and full suction at the nozzle, the cap may be removed from the end of the vacuum-chamber by unscrewing the thumbnuts sufficiently far-to admit of the slots sliding olf from the screw-bolts, whereupon the dust-bag may be removed and emptied. The bag may now be again inserted with its ring resting upon the flange of the endframe of the vacuum chamber and the cap may-then again be fitted upon said frame and secured by the thumb-nuts. By arranging the slots and enlarged openings in the flange of the cap and the screw-bolts upon the annular' frame in such a manner that the distance between the slots and bolts across the top diers from the distance between the slots and bolts across the sides and across the bottom, and the distance between the slots and bolts across the sides differs from that across the bottom, it is impossible tofasten the cap in any manner to the vacuum chamber excepting in 'such manner that the nozzle will project downward when secured in the cap.

The fiber cup-packings on the pistons will admit of the pistons Working in the cylinders without lubrication, and the rubber gaskets interposed between such packings and the metallic disks confining-these parts, serve to deaden any rattling or other-.noise caused by the friction between the dry packings and cylinders. The screws passing .through the disks, packings and pistonheads insure the true alinement of the valveports or openings through the same, preventing turning of said parts. The arched yoke inside the casing reinforces the same at the point where the wheels are journaled.

The machine is easily dismantled by removing the cap from the front end of the vacuum chamber and unscrewing the thumbnuts from the fastening-bolts, when the vacuum chamber may be separated from the casing, the cylinders withdrawn from the pistons, and all parts of the machine are accessible for inspection, cleaning, repairing or replacement.

Substantially all parts of the cleaner are formed from sheet-metal, stamped or drawn into shape, whereby a -great saving in material and weight is attained, and very slight amount of finishing of the parts is required. rl`he parts are few and simple, and are. easy to assemble and to dismantle.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employed for the mode herein explained. Change may therefore be made as regards the mechanism thus disclosed, provided the principles of construction set forth, respectively, in the following claims are employed.

Having thus described my invention what l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. In a vacuum-cleaner, a casing, wheels journaled in said casing, a pump cylinder in said casing, a piston in said cylinder and operatively connected to said wheels, a vacuum-chamber detachably secured to the front of said casing and arranged longitudinally in line with said pump cylinder and communicating with the intake of said pump cylinder, and a nozzle detachably secured to and communicating with said vacuum-chamber.

2. ln a vacuum-cleaner, a casing having'a forward wall, wheels mounted in said casing, a dust-separating vacuum chamber having a rear wall juxtaposed to said casing wall, bolts passing through the front wall of the casing and the rear wall of the vacuum-chamber and provided with nuts for detachably clamping said Walls together, a suction-device operatively connected to the wheels and supported within the casing in the rear of said Vacuum-chamber to have its intake communicate with the vacuum-chamber through the walls, and a suction-nozzle secured to the forward end of the vacuum-chamber and discharging into the same.

ROBERT R. SMllTI-I. l Witnesses:

SHEW,

KATH. JAMIsoN. 

